THOUSAND OAKS — When the Alabama freshmen of 2008 gathered on their first practice field and took their first stretches toward history, did anyone bring a camera?

Probably not. Not within sight or earshot of Nick Saban, the coach who believes in neither rest nor laurels.

“We didn’t look around at who was there or how many great players there were,” Mark Barron recalled after the Rams’ Wednesday practice.

“I knew who was in the class and I knew we might do something good. But we were too busy getting focused on working and learning. We already knew nothing would be given to us.

“But, yeah, it ended up being exactly what we thought.”

Some have argued it is the best recruiting class in college football history.

“I agree with that,” Barron said, smiling.

Barron represents that mother lode as an inside linebacker in Wade Phillips’ 3-4 defense. The group won BCS national championships for Alabama in 2009, 2011 and 2012. Barron also played on a top-level St. Paul’s Episcopal high school team in Mobile with quarterback A.J. McCarron, who came to Alabama later and plays for Cincinnati.

Winning deserted Barron in the NFL wilderness, as he played for Tampa Bay and the Rams, Now his team is 6-2 going into Sunday’s game with Houston, which is playing without DeShaun Watson.

A win will preserve the Rams’ one-game NFC West lead over Seattle, which just lost Richard Sherman.

So the vibes are finally aligning for a team that hasn’t had a winning record since 2003.

Just in case, the Eagles (who come here Dec. 10) are advising Carson Wentz to start taking Uber, and the Saints (Nov. 26) have banned Drew Brees from oyster consumption.

The Rams’ defense now performs in line with its reputation. It ranks 14th in yards allowed, which doesn’t interest coordinators as much as impact plays. The Rams are fourth in the NFL in interceptions, sixth in sacks. Last year they were 23rd and 24th. They are also sixth in preventing points.

Barron plays in the vortex even though he’s “just” 6-foot-2, 225. He was a safety at Alabama and in his early NFL days. But he was a running back at St. Paul’s and has played every stand-up position but quarterback.

“Regardless of what system, he’s a great football player,” said Joe Barry, the linebackers coach. “I coached Derrick Brooks (the Tampa Bay Hall of Famer) and he was always between 226 and 228. You don’t have to be 250 to play linebacker in the NFL. People may overlook the fact that this is only Mark’s second year of playing there. Fortunately at Alabama he played a lot of dime linebacker, so it wasn’t foreign to him.”

“As long as I understand the scheme I can play it,” Barron said, “and the coaches did a great job explaining it. I’ve always been physical. I will say that learning the blocking schemes by the offensive linemen was something different.”

Only six NFL players have more primary tackles than Barron’s 50. He also has four sacks and two interceptions.

He speaks with the kind of quiet gravity that comes from years of high-wire football. Do you know anyone in the NFL who can cover Atlanta’s Julio Jones? Barron did it nearly every day on Alabama’s practice field, “when we were playing dime and they were looking for the right matchups.”

They came in together on that first Saban wave. The class of 2008 produced 10 players who were drafted (in three different years) and 12 who played significantly in the NFL.

Saban knew Barron was as encompassing as the queen on the chessboard, but used his prerogative, as a former DB coach, to make him a safety.

“Actually I went there because they told me I’d be a safety,” Barron said. “I’d heard that I was the ideal size for a safety in their system. It was just a perfect match.”

Barron also won state track and field titles in the shot put and the long jump, which is kind of winning a piano competition playing jazz and classical. The disciplines don’t necessarily mesh. Neither does playing running back and linebacker.

“I never accepted losing,” he said. “I have a hard time dealing with it. If you don’t believe you can go out there and win, you’ll have a hard time with it.”

You can be surprised by the Rams’ sudden winning. For Barron, it means life has returned to right-side-up.